Research Question 3:
Is there a difference in weapon use against female vs. male victims of intimate partner violence?

The following code creates the variables and matches the segments
necessary to answer the research question. When using this code, be sure to insert
the paths and the file names of the data files to be used for the analysis. If you need
any assistance working with the syntax provided, please contact
us.

Defining the Variables
This example will use the matched file saved in the first intimate partner research question
because the created variables of intimate partner relationship and intimate partner most
serious violent offense and the existing gender and weapon use variables are needed to
answer this question.

GET FILE = 'Directory:\Path\Intimate Partner_victimoffense.sav'.

A new variable MSWPN is created to represent the most serious weapon used in the
incident. Each NIBRS record can have up to three weapons recorded. First,
VALUE LABELS are assigned to the three weapon variables (WEAPON1, WEAPON2, and WEAPON3).
Second, the values of the three weapon variables are grouped into six categories by
a RECODE. These six categories are: FIREARM (1) includes firearm,
handgun, rifle, shotgun, and other firearm; OBJECT (2) includes knife or cutting
instrument, blunt object, and motor vehicle; PERSONAL WEAPONS (3) remains as personal
weapons; OTHER WEAPON (4) includes poison, explosives, fire or incendiary device, drugs,
or narcotics or sleeping pills, asphyxiation, and other; NONE (5) remains as none; and
UNKNOWN (9) includes missing or not applicable entries. Third, the new variable
MSWPN is computed where the value of 1 represents the most serious weapon category.
Fourth, the VALUE LABELS are assigned for MSWPN and, finally, the value 9 is defined as
the MISSING VALUE.

Producing the Output
The CROSSTABS command generates a table for all victims of an intimate partner
offender-victim relationship that shows the count and percent within female and
male victim gender groups for each category of most serious weapon reportedly
used against the victim.

A total of 145,248 valid cases are used in the analysis. The resulting
cross-tabulated table shows that, within gender classification, female victims in intimate
partner violent encounters are most likely (76.7%) to report having a personal weapon used
against them and least likely (1.9%) to report having a firearm used against them.
Quite similarly, male victims in intimate partner violent encounters are also most likely
(67.5%) to report having a personal weapon used against them and least likely (1.4%) to
report having a firearm used against them.